Damn it! Another six rangers have been killed in the Virunga National Park. Six Rangers Killed in Virunga Park
Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest National park and largest tropical rainforest reserve, covering 7,800 sq km (3,000 sq miles). This park is a sanctuary to a fraction of the endangered mountain gorillas in Africa.
More than 200 rangers have been killed in the past, including 12 last April in the deadliest such attack in recent memory.
Officials from the Virunga National Park say the team of six rangers on foot patrol were ambushed and shot at by a militia group known as Mai-Mai on the morning of 10th/01/2021, one of many that operate in the Virunga region. In the exchange, two Mai-Mai militants were shot dead – while the others managed to escape. One of the rangers is currently nurse bullet wounds with hope for full recovery – we pray for you!
Why DR Congo continues to have civil unrest Six Rangers Killed in Virunga Park
The security situation in parts of eastern DRC remains unstable due to the activities of armed groups and ongoing military operations, which continue to destabilize the region. On October 30, 2019, the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) launched a major military operation against armed militia groups in the eastern DRC. Although scattered, the fightings are serious and are characterised by extreme violence targeting civilians, including murder, rape, kidnapping, and pillaging, continue throughout North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika, Haut Lomami, Ituri, Bas-Uele, and Haut-Uele provinces.
Rangers particularly often get caught up in such brutal attacks by militia groups while they are trying to safeguard the mineral-rich Virunga forest from being depleted of its natural resources in a bid to conserve it for the wildlife including the endangered mountain gorillas.
